Staff: Water Quality PI

John R. DonatAssociate Professor

Dr. John R. Donat is a marine environmental chemist /analytical chemist/chemical oceanographer in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department who holds a joint appointment in the Oceanography Department. He came to ODU in 1992, with a B.S. in Chemical Oceanography (1978) from Humboldt State University (Arcata, California), and a Ph.D. in Chemistry (1988) from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Liverpool (England: 1988-89), and the University of California, Santa Cruz (1989-91).

Research Interests:

Dr. Donat's research interests include the speciation (i.e., chemical forms) and concentrations of trace metals in natural waters and the factors affecting them; the relationship between trace metal speciation and concentrations and metal-phytoplankton interactions; the concentrations and nature of natural organic metal chelators in natural waters; develop¬ment and application of analytical methods for trace analysis in aquatic chemistry. Dr. Donat's research has attracted over $6 million in grant and contract funding from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Effects Committee, and the New York Sea Grant Program.

Donat, J.R. Trace metals in seawater: Simultaneous determination of cobalt and nickel and a field comparison of techniques for determining organic complexation of copper and zinc. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Santa Cruz, June, 1988.